Oyin Olugbile has won the 2025 Nigeria Prize for Literature with her fantasy novel Sanya. Olugbile was announced as the winner at the Grand Award Nite, which held on Friday, October 10, at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos. Olugbile's Sanya beat The Road to the Country by Chigozie Obioma and This Motherless Land by Nikki May to clinch the keenly contested prize.
Olugbile's masterful debut tells the story of dangerous love -- lost, found, and lost again -- all against the backdrop of a fantastical, enthralling empire that holds even the Òrìsà themselves spellbound.
The judges had previously praised Sanya as a "fascinating novel" with an "unrelenting" pace and an intriguing plot that immediately "grabs attention."
Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, Chairman of the Advisory Board, had earlier described the shortlist of three novels as exceptional.
"Each work distinguishes itself through masterful plotting, characterisation, and a command of language that transports readers into imagined worlds. These are not merely stories; they are carefully woven realities, compelling in beauty, stirring in emotional resonance, and unflinching in their engagement with urgent societal issues," Prof. Adimora-Ezeigbo said.
Olugbile holds a B.A. (Hons) in Creative Arts from the University of Lagos. She also holds a few postgraduate certificates from the Lagos Business School, Harvard Business School Online, the School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG), and an M.Sc. from King's College London.
She currently works as a Social Impact Management Consultant. Oyin Olugbile is also the Chief Curator of the Experience Factory, an education enterprise dedicated to curating out-of-classroom experiences for young people. EXF programs range from Arts and Crafts, STEM, Photography, and Health and Nutrition to Financial Literacy. Sanya is her debut novel.